From July 1, #PanCard must be linked to #AadhaarCard

All those allotted permanent account number (PAN) as on July 1 will have to link it with their existing 12-digit biometric Aadhaar number, the government has said.

Those applying for a new PAN will have to also mandatorily quote their Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrolment ID. Both Aadhaar and PAN have already been made mandatory for filing tax returns, opening of bank accounts and financial transactions over Rs 50,000.

“Every person who has been allotted permanent account or Aadhaar enrolment ID. Both Aadhaar and PAN have already been made mandatory for filing tax returns, opening of bank accounts and financial transactions over Rs 50,000.

“Every person who has been allotted permanent account number as on the 1st day of July 2017, and who in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA is required to intimate his Aadhaar number, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by the said authorities,” a notification issued by the government said.

The Finance Act for 2017-18 had made Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and provided for linking of PAN with Aadhaar. Linking Aadhar with PAN is expected to help check tax evasion through use of multiple PAN cards.

The Supreme Court had earlier upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the larger case related to the issue of privacy.

“Only a partial relief by the court has been given to those who do not have Aadhaar and who do not wish to obtain Aadhaar for the time being, that their PAN will not be cancelled, so that other consequences under the I-T Act for failing to quote PAN may not arise,” the CBDT had said after the Supreme Court ruling.

Those who do not map their PAN with Aadhar will have their PAN cancelled, making it difficult for them to do transactions. Even those not required to file income tax return but having both PAN and Aadhaar are mandatorily required to link them as per section 139AA.

As many as 2.07 crore taxpayers have already linked their Aadhaar with PAN. There are over 25 crore PAN card holders in the country while Aadhaar has been issued to 115 crore people.

What if your income is below the tax limit?
Even then. If you don’t file income tax return but possess both PAN and Aadhaar then linking the two is compulsory otherwise your PAN will be liable to become invalid from a date to be notified by the government, as per section 139AA of the Act.

The recent Supreme Court order provides interim relief to those who may have PAN but do not have an Aadhaar and have not applied for one as yet from having to compulsorily link the two. It does not provide any relief to those who already have both PAN and Aadhaar.

Even individuals who are not required to file income tax returns due to income being below exemption limit but possess both PAN and Aadhaar are mandatorily required to link both by a date to be notified as per section 139AA. If such individuals do not link the two by the date to be notified then their PAN will become invalid as per Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act introduced in the last budget, according to Sonu Iyer, Tax Partner and People Advisory Services Leader, EY.

This means that a large number of people – senior citizens, students, entry-level workforce, housewives etc. who have PAN and Aadhaar both, but don’t file returns will have to link the two numbers. This can be done via the income tax department’s e-filing website.

Link it if you don’t want to lose your PAN
If a person does not link PAN and Aadhaar as mandated by section 139AA then the person’s PAN would become invalid. If a person’s PAN becomes invalid they would face problems in all banking / financial transactions requiring PAN to be quoted.

How does one do it
The IT department has made provision for assesssees to link their PAN to Aadhaar on the efiling portal. If you have Aadhaar and PAN card and you haven’t linked it yet, here’s help.

Link
Visit the income tax e-filing portal at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ and enter your user id and password to access your profile. A new user can register on the portal by entering basic registration details such as PAN, name and date of birth.

Update Aadhaar
Once you are logged into the portal, go to the “Profile Settings” tab. A drop down menu will appear. Click on “Link Aadhaar”. A new form will be displayed.

Details
You need to enter name, date of birth and gender as per PAN records. Next, your Aadhaar number and your name as per Aadhaar records must be entered. These details must be submitted after entering the text in the captcha code appearing on the screen.

Confirmation
After submitting the Aadhaar details, a success message is displayed confirming the linking of Aadhaar with PAN. A confirmation email is also sent to the registered email id of the assessee.

Points to note
• Once Aadhaar-PAN is linked, one can e-verify the IT return using Aadhaar if the mobile number is registered with Aadhaar database.

• If the name in Aadhaar does not exactly match with the name on PAN, you need to additionally provide Aadhaar OTP or EVC to proceed with partial name match.